


let's stick together

by eutrash (AreteNike)



Series: Life Less Ordinary [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, M/M, flirting nerds, it stands alone but is better if you read the previous ones tbh, pining shiro, theyre superhero partners yee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-10-26 20:39:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10794363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AreteNike/pseuds/eutrash
Summary: Lance has questions. His partner has answers, but getting them might be difficult...





	let's stick together

**Author's Note:**

> another repost from shance week last year, i pretty much entirely rewrote the ending to this one though.

It's been a solid six months since Lance became a "hero" instead of a super-for-hire--well, he's still available for hire. But now his partner gives him this disappointed look if it's not a "good" job. To be expected of a guy that chose "Paladin" for his hero name, Lance figures.

Or to be expected of a guy that used to be a villain and wants to clean up his reputation, but why the hell he'd hang around Lance with that goal is anyone's guess. Like, is Lance a charity case or what?

Lance wants to know. Why the guy sticks around, that is. And to know that, he's gonna have to catch him off duty--which means finding out his secret identity.

Straight up asking is probably not the best way to go about this, but... Lance gives it a shot.

"Hey," he says, as the police drag off their latest catch, before Paladin leaves. "What do you do when you're not out heroing?"

"Aren't secret identities kept secret for a reason?"

The way he says it, it sounds like an actual question and not a passive aggressive dismissal. Progress?

"From the public, yeah, but we're a team, right? I mean, I know of three hero partners _at least_ who got married for real."

"I thought you didn't like being partners with me." Paladin grins at him.

"Eh, you've grown on me." Lance shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. "Besides, we've got the alliterative thing going. Permafrost and Paladin. It's aesthetically pleasing."

Paladin snorts. "I see." And then he looks around and says, lowly, "You'd really trust me with your secret identity?"

"Hey, man, I'm no angel either, but it's been like six months. I trust you," Lance says easily. "And it's not like I'm asking for your social security number. I was just curious how you pay the bills, y'know?"

"Hm."

"I'll even go first," says Lance, grinning. "I'm a barista."

"...I can see that," Paladin says. "I'm, ah... a teacher. A professor, actually."

Lance claps his hands to his face. " _Really?_ Oh my god."

"Really! But, speaking of--I need to go."

"Sure."

And Paladin jogs off. So. A professor. But shit, Lance can't exactly go and stalk the local college. There's like five local colleges, for one thing.

So, personal progress, but it doesn't actually get him any closer to finding out why Paladin hasn't ditched him yet.

So next time they meet, he maybe kind of accidentally-on-purpose wonders aloud, "My coffee shop is near a couple of colleges, I wonder if we've actually seen each other before?"

"Focus, Frosty."

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that!"

Paladin blocks an incoming blow with his nullifying hand, and then literally picks the guy up and flings him across the street. "It's faster than 'Permafrost'," he says casually.

Across the street, their attacker is now unconscious, and his buddies have fled. There are sirens in the distance.

"Buddy," Lance says, patting him on the shoulder with a hand that's still icy. "I'm gonna need you to cool down."

"Huh?"

"Because that was really hot." He finger-guns at a bemused, blushing Paladin, backing away, until he's far enough to just leave. And, woops, he sidetracked himself that time--still no answer.

But the real kicker is when he's working--he wasn't lying about being a barista. And in walks a guy that's built just like Paladin, except he's wearing a button up shirt and glasses. This a Clark Kent if Lance has ever seen one. And his _hair_ is two-toned, just like Paladin's.

But now, how to be sure it's him?

The guy comes up to the counter, and Lance grins. "Hey, _pal_ ," he says. Oh man, he totally thought the hair was part of the costume.

The guy starts, then squints at him. "Ah... you should chill out...?" he says, very tentatively. Lance grins even wider.

"Damn right I should," he says, and winks. "Can I take your order?"

Paladin smiles. "Small iced coffee, please."

"You sure? It's a little _chilly_ out."

"Oh, I like the cold."

Nice. "What a coincidence! So do I." He scribbles on a plastic cup. "Name?"

"Shiro."

Ha! Of all the places to run into your partner in anti-crime, Lance is really glad this happened in a coffee shop.

"Shi-ro," he says as he writes. "Comin' right up."

"Thanks..." Shiro's eyes flick down to his nametag, then back up, and he smiles. "Lance."

Lance grins back as Shiro pays.

Okay. They've got names and faces now. He's just gotta get him into some kind of actual conversation...

To Lance's surprise, Paladin--Shiro--actually seems to be amenable to conversation... if the way he lingers in the shop, sitting at the table long after he's finished his coffee, is any indication. He doesn't seem surprised when Lance comes and sits across from him during his break, either.

"Soooo... Shiro," Lance says.

"That's me."

"What do you teach?"

"History," Shiro says easily. "Ancient, specifically."

"Heh. That's unexpected."

He shrugs. "It is what it is."

Lance drums his fingers on the table and frowns. There's a lot he wants to say, but they're in public, and secret identities are secret for a reason.

"I _am_ glad to meet you, by the way," Shiro says quietly. "I probably haven't given you that impression, but it's true."

"You did seem pretty reluctant," Lance says.

"I wasn't sure how to go about it," he admits. "That comment you made about meeting in a coffee shop made me think. I'll admit, I've been better caffeinated this week than I usually am."

Wait... Shiro's been actively _looking_ for him? He straightens up in shock.

"That's why," he murmurs.

"Hm?"

"Well, it's just, I've been wondering why you haven't ditched me, y'know?" Lance leans his elbow on the table, chin in hand, and grins. "If you were looking to clean up your act, I wasn't exactly the best choice of partner, was I?"

"Heh. No, I suppose not." Shiro smiles.

"Plus, like, let's be real: I was an ass to you at the beginning."

He hums. "Oh, I liked your attitude." Then he freezes, eyes widening and face reddening. "Shoot. I didn't mean to say that."

Lance throws back his head and laughs. Oh, man, this isn't what he expected at all.

Definitely not unwelcome, though.

"Tell you what," he says, and leans across the table with his best smolder--evidently it works on Shiro, because he gets even redder. "I'll give you my number, and you can give me a call sometime, yeah?"

"...Yeah," Shiro says, and grins back at him like Lance is offering him the world. "I'd like that."

**Author's Note:**

> im on tumbls @maternalcube yo


End file.
